Awards

The Kingfisher Award is Kitsap Audubon Society’s highest honor, and is awarded each year to an individual or couple for outstanding dedication and service to KAS and its mission for at least five years. The award is presented at our annual general membership dinner meeting in May. To be considered, the candidate should have demonstrated the following characteristics:

Has actively participated in the chapter for at least 5 years.

Has produced work of high quality.

Has demonstrated the ability to complete tasks responsibly and in a timely fashion.

Has advocated for wildlife and for the environment.

Has shown a dedication to the KAS chapter.

If you have any nominations for the next Kingfisher Award please send them to info@kitsapaudubon.org. Many people work very hard to make KAS the great chapter it is, and we want no one to be overlooked. Thanks! We appreciate your help. See below for pat winners.

2018 Winner

Al Westphal

Al has been Field Trip Chairsince September 2012 and amember of the KAS Board since February 2013. He has been a Christmas Bird Count leader since November 2015. During the recent launch of the Port Gamble/North Kitsap CBC circle, Al organized multiple teams toaccommodate a flood of Hansville first-time CBC volunteers. He and his son Andrew are known for their exceptional birding skills and ability to mentor and encorage beginning birders. Not surprisingly, they are very popular leaders.Al and Andrew becamefascinated with birds following Al’s retirementas a Naval officer after serving as commander on several warships. His skills as aleader have been invaluableto the Kitsap Audubon Board.His wisdom and patience have been a powerfulinfluence on Board decisions.He often takes the lead in thedetailed analysis that underlies good decision making, and has written thedrafts of a number of important KAS policies, including our “Endowment Spending” policy.

2017 Winner

Michael Szerlog

Michael has served as ourwebmaster since 2003, working behind the scenes to maintain the virtual face of Kitsap Audubon. He has been involved with KAS since 1995 when he helped with the purple martin projectinstalling/cleaning nest boxes/gourds. When the job of maintaining KAS’s website became available, he quickly jumped into that role working to purchase a domain name (kitsapaudubon.org); secured free hosting from a localinternet provider; and obtained website design software. Over the past fourteen years he hasmaintained the site, adding photos from members; updating links to area birding locations; and providing online access to the Kingfisher newsletter. In 2016, when our internet rovider discontinued free hosting, he researched options and put forward a proposal to use Squarespace for our website hosting. While there was now acost to this service, it allowed for a more professional looking site with additional design features. Check it out!

Michael also has served asthe president of the HansvilleGreenway Association since2015, working with a smallboard of volunteers in charge of maintaining a corridor of county-owned natural areas, trail and conservation easements reaching from Puget Sound at NorwegianPoint Park to Hood Canal.

Michael currently works atthe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 10 office in Seattle where he is the program manager for the Wetland Program. He lives in Hansville with his wife Jennifer and their dog Sara where they enjoy backyard birding, in addition to many hikes to Point-no-Pointand the Hansville Greenway.He is the father of twins, Dylan and Mackenzie who are college students studying at Western Washington and Washington State Universities.

2016 Winner

janine Schutt

Janine has been an officer on the Board for five years, including two as President, two as Vice President, and one as Immediate Past President. She has also served for the last two years as Compiler for the annual Kitsap Audubon Christmas Bird Count. She has helped monitor and maintain the Seabeck Purple Martin colony, and has led bird walks for Girl Scout and Cub Scout groups, as well as given PowerPoint presentations on birds for local groups.

Janine has also served as a chapel volunteer at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor and the Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women in Belfair, where she currently serves as Catholic Chaplain.

Janine is a skilled wildlife photographer who has won recognition for her bird photos in the Kitsap Sun. Her upbeat personality and enthusiasm never fail to buoy those around her.